‘It’s all about giving candidates access to the resources they need to be successful’

And, most of all, effective candidate training to help you learn how to run a successful campaign.

Candidate Training for Everyone?

But what Kelly Dietrich, founder and CEO of NDTC, discovered was that these vital candidate training resources were not available universally to Democrats willing to step forward.

Instead you had to be in the right place, at the right time, or know the right people. You might need to be invited, or pay for training. And while the trainings being offered were fantastic and comprehensive, they simply weren’t easily accessible.

This was especially true for candidates of small or local elections. Those who needed to maintain full-time jobs and work on extremely small budgets. Unfortunately, these candidates were often left behind. Forced to figure it out on their own or learn through hard mistakes along the way.

Kelly knew in order to truly paint the country blue, that needed to change. And so NDTC was born.

He also goes deeper into the the motivation and mission of NDTC and our innovative campaign school, our goal of training 50,000 Democrats this year (will one of those be you?), and our role in building a bench for the party in 2018 and beyond.

Change Starts with You

The Great Battlefield podcast focuses on how the resistance is mobilizing. Pearlman interviews a variety of political entrepreneurs who are lead organizations and initiatives against the Trump agenda.

“I wanted to build a resource that allows any Democrat willing to step forward and run for office access to free campaign training no matter where they are,” Dietrich said, explaining his motivation behind the creation of the free, online NDTC campaign school.

“We’re allowing people to be empowered wherever they are,” Dietrich said. “I can put my kid to sleep. Say goodnight. I can go downstairs at 9:30 p.m. and hop on the computer to take a 45-minute online course that teaches me things like the fundamentals of how to build a field plan.”

Dietrich also talks about working to eliminate the barriers often faced by down-ballot candidates when it comes to gaining the know-how to run an effective campaign, expertise that is typically available only to those who can afford to pay experienced political consultants.

“What we’re trying to do is take all of that collective wisdom, that experience, the best practices that campaign professionals have and make it accessible to any Democrat in the country,” Dietrich said. “It’s all about giving them access to the resources they need to be successful.”

“You Need to Be Running Pro-Voter”

Dietrich’s advice to the thousands of local candidates accessing NDTC training: “You need to be talking about what you can do for the people in your community, how you are going to make their children’s life better. You don’t need to be running anti-Trump. You need to be running pro-voter.”

And, on the Democrats prospects for 2018, Dietrich is excited: “I think there’s a huge blue wave coming in ’18 and I hope we can be a small part in making that wave a reality.”

Access Kelly’s full interview by subscribing to The Great Battlefield on your favorite podcast app, or go towww.ResistanceDashboard.com.